Tuesday

The South Carolina women's basketball team showed the formula for beating Vanderbilt on Sunday.

The Gamecocks limited the Commodores to 1-of-5 3-point shooting in claiming a 61-57 victory in Nashville, Tenn. That ended Vandy's' four-game winning streak.

Vandy (16-4, 5-2) leads the SEC in 3-point shooting at 44.2 percent. The Commodores' only league losses have both been to USC (18-2, 6-1). The Gamecocks outscored Vandy, which plays at Mizzou Arena on Thursday, 46-32 in the paint.

Before Sunday, Vandy had made at least four 3-pointers in every SEC game.

“We were supposed to take the paint away, whether it was the lob to the (paint) or taking away the drive to make their guards jump shooters,” Vanderbilt Coach Melanie Balcomb told the Nashville Tennessean. “And they were supposed to take the 3 away (from us), and I think they did a better job of taking our strength away.”

The game was tied at 55 until USC's Tiffany Mitchell made a layup with 50 seconds remaining. Mitchell then came up with a steal and another layup 18 seconds later.

“We definitely believe we were in a really good spot — tied with less than a minute left,” Vanderbilt guard Christina Foggie, who had a game-high 23 points, told the Tennessean. “We talked about how we need to dig down and play smarter in that last possession where we left an open layup. That’s just where we need to get better as a team.”

HIGH PRAISE FOR GAMECOCKS: With Texas A&M's 76-55 home loss to Tennessee on Sunday, South Carolina moved into a first-place tie with the Aggies atop the league at 6-1.

Graham Hays, a columnist for espnW.com, labeled USC his "team of the week" in his Monday morning weekend wrap.

"South Carolina is a team with an identity this season in good times and bad," Hays wrote. "... When things aren't going well, they're still going to get the ball to Tiffany Mitchell, who showed again she can create her own points. They're still going to rebound with Aleighsa Welch, Elem Ibiam and Alaina Coates. And they're going to defend."

Statistically, South Carolina might be the most impressive team in the SEC. It ranks second in scoring defense (52.4 ppg), first in scoring margin (plus-21.5), first in field-goal percentage (48.6), first in field-goal percentage defense (33.9), second in 3-point percentage defense (25.5) and second in rebounding margin (plus-10.2), among other superlatives.

Missouri (13-7, 2-5), which is in the midst of a four-game losing streak, plays at South Carolina on Sunday.

"It's possible South Carolina's ceiling -- what it can be on its absolute best day -- isn't as high as Tennessee's ceiling or maybe even Kentucky's ceiling," Hays wrote. "Trips to both Lexington and Knoxville await, and South Carolina already came up short once on the road at Texas A&M. But what the Gamecocks produce day in and day out, even gritty days like Sunday, matters."

UK COACH CHANGES APPROACH: Kentucky Coach Matthew Mitchell decided to stop acting like everything was OK. After all, it was probably hard to put up that front after his Wildcats lost 57-55 at home to Alabama on Thursday.

So Mitchell had a new mentality for UK's 68-58 win Sunday over Arkansas.

"No more Mr. Nice Guy," Mitchell told the Lexington Herald-Leader. "No more telling them how everything is going to be all right."

Even in the win, not everything was all right with UK (16-4, 4-3). The Wildcats, who were labeled an SEC favorite behind only Tennessee in preseason coaches and media polls, trailed Arkansas by as many as 10 points in the second half.

Jennifer O'Neill moved from her sixth-man role into the starting lineup Sunday. It marked her second start of the season. She led the Wildcats to victory with 21 points. Mitchell's "mentality has changed from Mr. Nice Guy to intense, and that's going to reflect on us," O'Neill told the Herald-Leader, "and I feel like you guys will see that in the games from here on out." STEPPING UP: With Tennessee's starting point guard Ariel Massengale out Sunday with a facial injury sustained in Thursday's game, fellow guard Meighan Simmons stepped up to help lesson the impact of Massengale's absence. Simmons scored a game-high 26 points in leading UT past A&M. "I was out there playing for one of my teammates who couldn’t be here,” Simmons told The Associated Press. “Ariel has done so much for this team, and we all stepped up to the plate." Massengale's 110 assists rank sixth in the SEC. She didn't make the trip to College Station, Texas, on Sunday, but UT Coach Holly Warlick told the AP Massengale was likely to return to practice today and play in Thursday's game against Arkansas. BRACKETOLOGY UPDATE: ESPN's Charlie Creme projected seven SEC teams in the NCAA Tournament in his latest Bracketology report, released Monday. They were, by seed: No. 2 South Carolina, No. 2 Tennessee, No. 3 Vanderbilt, No. 4 Texas A&M, No. 5 Kentucky, No. 5 LSU and No. 10 Georgia. IN THE POLLS: Six SEC teams remained ranked in this week's Associated Press poll. South Carolina leads the pack at No. 7, followed by No. 10 Tennessee, No. 13 Kentucky, No. 14 LSU, No. 16 Vanderbilt and No. 17 Texas A&M. This week's coaches/USA Today poll has not been released yet. HONOR ROLL: LSU senior forward Theresa Plaisance was named this week's SEC Player of the Week. She averaged 21 points and 10.5 rebounds in a pair of victories last week. She had a double-double in each game. ... Alabama forward Ashley Williams was named the SEC Freshman of the Week. She averaged 11 points and seven rebounds in a pair of wins.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.